An elementary school teacher fired by a private San Diego-area school following a domestic violence incident involving her ex-husband is speaking out about her ordeal.

Carie Charlesworth, who taught second grade at Holy Trinity School in El Cajon, Calif., told the San Diego NBC affiliate that the incident with her ex-husband occurred back in January.

“Basically, we’d had a very bad weekend with him," Charlesworth, a mother of four, said. “We'd called the Sheriff’s Department three times on [that] Sunday."

The following morning, Charlesworth said, she informed the school of the incident and told the principal to be on the lookout for her ex-husband. When he was spotted in the parking lot, the school went into lockdown.

Charlesworth was put on indefinite leave, and her children, who also attended Holy Trinity, were removed by the school.

"At this time, Mrs. Charlesworth and her children are on an indefinite leave of absence," Francie Wright, Holy Trinity's principal, wrote in a letter to parents on Jan. 29. "We request that you keep them in your prayers."

“It felt like the kids and I were being punished for something we didn’t even do,” Charlesworth told NBC 7.

Her ex-husband was subsequently sent to prison, but in April, the school fired her anyway.

The Diocese of San Diego wrote in a letter to Charlesworth that it was concerned about her ex-husband's "threatening and menacing behavior."

The letter noted, "We feel deeply for you and about the situation in which you and your children find yourselves through no fault of your own. Although we understand he is currently incarcerated, we have no way of knowing how long or short a time he will actually serve and we understand from court files that he may be released as early as next fall. In the interest of the safety of the students, faculty and parents at Holy Trinity School, we simply cannot allow you to return to work there, or, unfortunately, at any other school in the Diocese."
Kenneth Hoyt, Charlesworth's attorney, said she intends to sue.
"They’ve taken away my ability to care for my kids,” Charlesworth said. “It’s not like I can go out and find a teaching job anywhere.”
Not surprisingly, advocates for domestic violence victims are outraged.

"We have 1 in 3 women in the United States who are victims of domestic violence," Heather Finlay, chief executive of YWCA San Diego, told NBC 7. "Firing all of them is not the answer."

How does this story fit any political agenda? A sad story to be sure, but the school seems to be thinking about the safety of the children. Seems legitimate to worry about a potentially violent ex-husband. Yes, it was unfair and not the fault of the teacher; but I can’t blame the school for thinking about the kids in this situation..

As for private school, I think if most people had a choice they would send their kids to private school. The public school may very well broken beyond repair; especially where I live in Texas. Public schools are more akin to a day care for older kids. Not a place I’d send my kids to if I had a choice.

Well what the hell do you expect when you have a person who is violent - I will be willing to bet anyone of you $100 that this idiot husband will not be held to any "non violent" standard when he is put back into society.

I will also be willing to bet that when he is released he will probably try to kill his wife.

Another example of our "violent society" that has no coping skills whatsoever.

It's all about "if I can't have it my way, watch out" because you can't have it either.